Kanye West Is Debuting Yeezy Season 3 and His New Album at the Same Damn Time

Mark your calendar: On February 11, 2016, Kanye West will take over the worlds of music and fashion—or at least all conversations you have about music and or fashion. On that date, at 4PM EST to be exact, Mr. West will debut Yeezy Season 3, the third installment of his highly hyped high-end sportswear label, as part of New York Fashion Week. At the exact same time, the world will finally hear Swish, West's 7th (and amazingly named, if you ask us) solo album. And all of it's going down at the world's most famous arena: Madison Square Garden.

Though most fashion shows are industry-only events with a small helping of celebrities (except for West's, where the front row is basically nothing but boldface names), the concert/runway show/performance piece will be open to the public. Yes, Kanye is selling tickets to his own epic release party, on sale January 27 at 10am via tickets.kanyewest.com. And because Yeezus is a man of the people, the event will also be live streamed to select theaters around the world.

1 / 3

Randy Brooke/Getty Images for Kanye West Yeezy

It's been a long journey

In January 2014, a video surfaced of Kanye West talking through his second capsule collection with French denim label A.P.C. (It’s since been scrubbed from the Internet.) Standing in a Paris showroom, West spent nearly fifteen minutes explaining to a room of fashion editors every stitch, detail, and decision that went into the military-inspired capsule. He talked at length about his specific design choices—like how he chose certain fabrics while picturing “dudes in Milan being shot by [street style photographer] Tommy Ton”—but also about how this capsule collection was symbolic of a new era for him personally, one where he might be seen not as a rapper or a celebrity, but as a fashion designer. “I think, like, this moment right here is maybe the first time where people can see, like, ‘Oh that’s his opinion,” he said. But Kanye’s history in the fashion industry is as long and involved as his career in music, and since he burst onto the scene in 2004 with The College Dropout, his impact on men’s fashion has been immense. Maybe even unmatched. And yet it’s only now, on the day that his new collaboration with Adidas will be unveiled at a highly anticipated fashion show in New York, that he’s finally getting the platform to express his vision in a way he feels he has long deserved. Here, we present the unabridged guide to Kanye West’s fashion history—including the good, the bad, the mind-blowing, and the sometimes ugly.

Now it's not clear whether this will be an actual concert or more of a listening party with models, but there mere fact that both major creative outlets in Kanye's life are coming together under one (very large) roof is certainly something to be excited about. Previously West premiered songs "Wolves," and "Fade," at the shows for Yeezy Season 1 and 2 respectively, both of which will appear of Swish, but the grand scale of this new event is a sign that Kanye is ready to level-up as a force in the fashion business.

As the below promo poster indicates, the show will be art directed alongside performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, who not only helped stage Kanye's last two fashion shows, but the world tour for his 2013 album Yeezus. Ultimately, as is the case West's signature Yeezy sneakers, one thing is for certain about this event: that tickets are not going to be easy to get.

Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations.